Elizabeth Hurley, also known as ‘Liz Hurley’, is a British model and actress who has always been in the limelight, for both the right and wrong reasons. She can lay claim to the title of one of the most desirable women in the world, as well as one of the most photographed. Hurley had quite a colourful childhood as she dabbed in Ballet and punk fashion and was even involved with the ‘New Age Travellers’, a hippie group in Britain. Hurley gained worldwide recognition as she walked the red carpet with partner Hugh Grant at the premier of his film. Although Grant was the more famous one, Liz stole his thunder and grabbed all the attention with her bold Versace dress, which was held together by giant gold safety pins. Spurred on by her own sudden fame, Hurley did not look back and went on to establish a very successful modelling career Even as she achieved only moderate successes with her films, her modelling career as well as her well-publicised personal life ensured that she remained etched in people’s memory. In her turbulent personal life, Liz has had to put up with cheating partners, break-ups, outspoken in-laws and paternity suits. But in spite of everything, Liz has invariably managed to emerge unscathed and continues to enjoy fame and attention. Scroll down to know more about this prominent personality.

Elizabeth Hurley was born in Basingstoke to Roy Leonard Hurley, an army major and Angela Mary Hurley, a school teacher at Kempshott Infant School.

By the age of 12, Elizabeth already knew that she wanted to be a dancer and was enrolled to a private boarding school, specializing in ballet. Later, she also earned a scholarship to study dance and theatre at the ‘London Studio Centre’.

As a teenager, she joined the ‘New Age Travellers’, a hippie group from UK, before getting influenced by ‘punk fashion’ which led her to colour her hair and wear a nose-ring.

As a young girl, Hurley won a ‘Face of the year’ competition that was organized by a local newspaper and was rewarded with a 1 year contract with a top company in London

In 1987, she landed her first movie, ‘Aria’, a film that consisted of 10 short films, all having different directors. The film featured in the ‘Cannes Film Festival’ of 1987.

In 1988, ‘Christabel’, a TV show featuring Hurley in the lead was released, with Hurley playing the lead role of an English woman married to a German lawyer.

Between 1988 and 1995, she acted in a few movies like ‘Rowing With the Wind’, ‘Kill Cruise’, ‘Passenger 57’ and ‘Beyond Bedlam’, along with TV shows like ‘Act of Will’, ‘Death Has a Bad Reputation’.

She was also featured in a lot of cameos during this period, appearing in shows like ‘Inspector Morse’, ‘The Orchid House’, ‘The Good Guys’ and ‘Sharpe’s Enemy’.

In 1994, her then partner Hugh Grant founded a production company ‘Simian Films’, in which Hurley was assigned as development head to scout for projects.

In 1995, the well-known cosmetics firm ‘Estee Lauder’ signed her as their spokes-model, a position she held till 2001, when she was replaced by ‘Caroline Murphy’.

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In 1997, she starred alongside Mike Myers as ‘Vanessa Kensington’ in the hit action comedy ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’ and followed it up with a small appearance in the sequel ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me’, a couple of years later.

From 1998 to 2000, she appeared in quite a few Hollywood movies such as, ‘Permanent Midnight’, ‘My Favourite Martian’, ‘EdTV’ and ‘Bedazzled’.

In 2000, she flouted a 5-month acting-strike by acting in a commercial for ‘Estee Lauder’ and had to pay a penalty of $100,000, imposed by the ‘Screen Actors Guild’. The same year, she acted in the drama ‘The Weight of Water’, which also featured Sean Penn.

In 2001, Hurley was part of ‘The Human Face’, a 4-part documentary about the effects of facial expressions and features. It was narrated by the British Actor-Comedian John Cleese.

In 2002, she acted in the unsuccessful film, ‘Serving Sara’, whose failure led Hurley to stop acting in films in the US and focus more on her modelling career.

In 2005, she did modelling for the firms ‘Saloni’, ‘Liverpool Department Stores of Mexico’ and ‘Lancel’. The same year, she also launched her own beachwear line, ‘Elizabeth Hurley Beach’ at Harrods in UK.

In 2006, she acted in the advertising campaigns for the brands, ‘Jordache’, ‘Shiatzy Chen’, ‘Got Milk?’, ‘Patrick Cox’ and ‘MQ Clothiers of Sweden’.

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In 2006, she hosted the British reality show ‘Project Catwalk’ and received a lot of flak for it. She was replaced in the next season because she allegedly had asked the contestants to send her free clothes.

In 2008, Hurley both designed and modelled a capsule collection of 12 swimsuits for ‘MANGO’, a Spanish clothes brand.

In 2011, she acted in the fifth season of the TV show ‘Gossip Girl’, where she portrayed the character of ‘Diana Payne’, a rich businesswoman from Los Angeles.

In 1994, Elizabeth Hurley announced herself to the world as she wore an iconic Versaci dress, while accompanying Hugh Grant to the premier of ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral’. The dress appeared in numerous tabloids worldwide and catapulted Hurley into sudden limelight.

In 1995, she was chosen as the face of ‘Estee Lauder’ in spite of not having any previous experience in modelling, initiating what has turned out to be a long-standing relationship as she continues to work with the brand till today.

In 1997, Hurley starred as ‘Vanessa Kensington’ in ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’, a spoof of older James-Bond movies, her most loved role till date, which also become a cult classic much after its release.

In 1987, when Hurley was a relatively unknown actress, she met British actor Hugh Grant on the sets of a Spanish movie ‘Remando Al Viento’, starting a well-publicised relationship with him that was to last till 2000.

In 1995, Grant was arrested in Los Angeles for his dalliance with prostitute ‘Divine Brown’ following which, Hurley surprised everyone by not separating from him.

In 2000, Hurley and Grant separated, albeit on good terms and have remained friends ever since. They both also continued with ‘Simian Films’, their business enterprise.

In 2002, a son was born to Hurley, namely, Damian Charles Hurley. The boy’s father, American producer Steve Bing, initially refused to acknowledge Damian as his son and eventually took a DNA test that confirmed him as the father.

In 2002, Hurley started a relationship with Indian business magnate Arun Nayar, and in 2007, they got married in 2 ceremonies, first at Sudeley castle in England, and then at Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur.

The wedding had its share of controversies, as criminal charges were filed against Hurley and Nayar by a religious Hindu community in India, for violating wedding customs, followed by Nayar’s parents renouncing their son publicly.

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Hurley’s marriage ended in 2011 when she successfully filed for divorce, stating Nayar’s “unreasonable behaviour” as the cause. Later that year, she got engaged to Australian cricket legend Shane Warne.

In December 2013, Warne and Hurley called off their engagement after a turbulent 2 months period.

Hurley has been an active supporter of the ‘Est�e Lauder's Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign’. She also helped raise funds for a host of charities, like the ‘Prince’s Trust’, ‘End Hunger Network’, ‘ARK’ children’s charity, the ‘Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre’ and the ‘Elton John AIDS Foundation’.

She is an ambassador of ‘Hop, Skip and Jump’, a charity for children. In 2013, she and her then partner Shane Warne organized a special cricket match in England to raise money for the ‘Hop, Skip and Jump’ charity and the ‘Shane Warne Foundation’. The match featured many International cricketers.